How Is Act 2 Scene 2 Such a Vital Turning Point for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Macbeth’, the protagonist, Macbeth, and his wife Lady Macbeth, dramatically change throughout the course of the play. Macbeth starts the play as a more submissive husband and Lady Macbeth, the more dominant wife. This helps to generate a mixture of pity and fear, which is a key ingredient for making this play a tragedy, along with the death of the protagonist due to his “vaulting ambition”. Act 2 Scene 2 is a key turning point in this play and signifies a number of major changes to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, mainly the deterioration of Macbeth from what the Captain describes right at the beginning of the play as a fearless warrior, to a man who loses all fear of death and Lady Macbeth from a calm, evil influence to an nervous, obsessive woman.

Macbeth’s reluctance to kill Duncan is vital to help generate this pity for him, as we see that he is forced into by his controlling wife, Lady Macbeth, who insults his manhood by telling him “when you durst do it, then you were a man” and taunts him until he finally gives in to her. The fact that he is eventually bullied into regicide by his wife would have been a great shock for the Jacobean audience as woman were thought of as the more passive sex. His soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 7 is Macbeth’s thoughts pouring out as he agonises over whether or not to kill Duncan. Macbeth says that “as I am his kinsman and his subject/ Strong both against the deed” showing that he values kinship and loyalty. However, right at the end of this soliloquy, we hear of Macbeth’s fatal flaw, his “vaulting ambition” which is greatly exploited by his wife, as he names this the reason that he would kill Duncan.

Macbeth’s regret after killing Duncan is clear to see and also generates pity for him. When he says “Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst”, this is a clear indicator of his massive guilt and regret. After coming back from killing Duncan, he is a...

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...Summary
Macbeth meets Banquo in the courtyard of his castle. Banquo is restless because he cannot decide how he feels about the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth pretends indifference, but casually agrees to talk about it if Banquo would like. They agree, and Banquo leaves. Macbeth again takes time to examine the pros and cons of going through with the plot, and begins to see illusions, starting with a dagger floating in the air in front of him. He seems to go back and forth, but eventually decides to kill Duncan.
Enter
To come on stage.
Court
A courtyard, possibly the forecourt.
bearing a torch before him
Fleance is carrying a torch because this scene is set at night. Since the play was originally performed in the open air, in the afternoon, the torch helps us accept that it’s night.
she
The moon.
I take’t, ’tis later
I assume that it’s later than midnight.
Most people had no accurate way to tell time. Clocks were few and watches had not been invented.
There’s husbandry in heaven; / Their candles are all out.
husbandry — conservation
All the candles of heaven (the stars) are dark, unseen. The night is cloudy.
Take thee that too.
Banquo asks his son, Fleance, to take something else he’s been carrying, in addition to his sword.
A heavy summons lies like lead upon me . . . Gives way to in repose!
Banquo is tired and wants to sleep, but he can’t. This is a problem, since he knows...

...Act2, Scene2 of Shakespeare's Macbeth is one of the most violent and intense scenes of the play. This scene is essential to the plot because it produces and develops Macbeth’s character as well as showing the first signs of guilt. It also presents a powerful and different side of the duo, Macbeth and LadyMacbeth after the death of King Duncan. He successfully uses a range of evocative language techniques to develop and explore the ideas of being a victim of fate, guilt and the issue of masculinity presented in Act2, Scene2.
In 2.2 the dialogue between Macbeth and LadyMacbeth reveals information to the audience about the aggressive nature of their relationship. The ideas of being the victim of fate and the issue of masculinity are linked together in this scene. LadyMacbeth and the Witches see Macbeth as the perfect victim of fate. He has no power of control over Lady Macbeth’s or the witch’s commands. Lady Macbeth’s imperative voice compels Macbeth to arrange the murder, what to do with the dagger and most famously when she orders him to wash his hands, “Wash this filthy witness from your hands”. Although Macbeth...

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In the beginning of Macbeth, Macbeth is a strong, brave and noble soldier. He is considered to be brave by all the people he was fighting around. When the captain is relaying the events of the battle, we find him saying to the king "For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name" (1.2.16). As a result of Macbeth's actions on the battlefield, Duncan names him Thane of Cawdor, this proves that Macbeth is a good soldier. He had no intention of doing anything other than serving the king. Because of this small rise in power it leads Macbeth to wanting more, illustrating the reason this book is...

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Pride Before the Fall
"And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray's in deepest consequence." (I.iii.132-135). In the tragic play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth does not realize the significance of Banquo's words before it is too late. In the beginning of the play, he is humble and loyal to the king, but after a part of the witches' prophecy is fulfilled, he begins to discover a darkness he didn't know he possessed. As the play progresses, he and LadyMacbeth commit horrendous acts of murder and become consumed by darkness. However, at the end, the Macbeths does not realize they have sealed their own fate, and die a tragic death. As the Macbeths delve deeper into evil, the darkness that surrounds them blinds them, leading them further onto the path of their damned fate.
In the beginning of the play, the Macbeths comes to discover their hidden, malicious desires. When Macbeth first hears the witches' prophecy, he is confused, but slowly comes to realize the now present, evil motives he has buried deep inside his heart. "If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature?" (I.iii.143-146). This shows the first arrival of his thought to murder the King,...

...Title: How does Shakespeare make this scene both a significant and dramatic moment in the play?
In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth there are a lot of dramatic, exciting and tragic occurrences in many of the scenes. Although in the beginning, Shakespeare foreshadowed the tragedies that were to come nothing could have prepared the audience for what took place in Act2scene 3. This is the scene in which King Duncan is found murdered causing shock and panic in all the characters on stage. He dramatizes the scene by portraying the discovery of the King’s body, by emphasizing the shock and disbelief of the characters, by the flattering description given of Duncan and by revealing to the audience the deceptive characters of Macbeth and LadyMacbeth.
Duncan is the King of Scotland. He went to Macbeth’s castle to commend Macbeth in his bravery in the war against Scotland. However what he did not know was that his death was planned before his arrival. Although we the audience only meet Duncan briefly Shakespeare provides us with an admirable view of Duncan’s character by the way the other characters describe him. For example when Duncan was found murdered Macduff had expressed his disbelief and outrage with the words:
“Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope/The Lord’s anointed temple, and stole...

...MACBETHACT2SCENE 1…
Section A
1. The clues at the beginning of this scene to indicate that the castle is in darkness are that the servant carries a burning torch to light their way and Macbeth is also carrying a torch-bearer.
2. Banquo’s state of mind at the beginning of this scene is that he is scared to go to sleep because he doesn’t want to see nightmares.
3. We know that Banquo is nervous because he cannot sleep and is wide awake. He can hear noises very clearly like when Macbeth is coming he says “who’s there?” before Macbeth can even introduce himself.
4. The information that banquo gives Macbeth about the King’s visit is that the king is in bed and he has been In an unusually good mood, he has given Macbeth’s house hold gifts and a diamond to LadyMacbeth for her hospitality.
5. The audience is reminded of LadyMacbeth in this scene by Banquo giving Macbeth a diamond saying that King Duncan has given this diamond to LadyMacbeth for her hospitality.
6. The effect of Banquo’s frank statement: “I dreamt last night of the three Weird Sisters“ , tells us that banquo was dreaming about what the witches had told them and when he says “they have showed some truth” means he dreamt...

...﻿The porter scene in ‘Macbeth’ follows the treacherous murder of King Duncan and is striking, as it is where Shakespeare clearly weaves comedy in amongst the tragedy of the rest of the play. There are plenty of speculations concerning the purpose of the scene; however, there is no doubt that it holds great significance nevertheless.
Elizabethan theatres were very different to the theatres we know today. There was no special lighting available nor curtains, and scene switchovers could have been quite arduous for the actors. Thus, perhaps the most pragmatic purpose for the scene is that it would allow the characters, specifically Macbeth and LadyMacbeth, to change costumes and prepare for the following scene.
However, it is unlikely that Shakespeare haphazardly inserted this scene simply for practicality, for we see very similar occurrences of such comedic moments in his other tragedies: ‘Hamlet’ – with the gravediggers that follows Ophelia’s suicide – and the humorous interjections of Lear’s Fool in ‘King Lear’. Therefore, the porter scene is probably intended as a piece comic relief, which offers some respite from the otherwise dark material of ‘Macbeth’. Alike the gravediggers in ‘Hamlet’ and the speeches of the Fool in ‘King Lear’, the Porter’s nonsense verbatim aims to relieve the tension and...